Both teams exchanged power play opportunities in the first half of the opening period. While the Brahmas were not able to convert on the opportunity they put a lot of pressure on with multiple shots on goal. Immediately after the Brahmas’ man advantage ended the IceRays went on the job. Lone Star’s penalty kill unit was up to the task not allowing a single shot on goal. However, Just 30 seconds after their first opportunity the IceRays were right back to the power play and this time a sharp angle centering pass by Blake Bennett from below the goal line in the far corner went off a body in front and past Seth Eisele at 12:02. Kyle Moore and Brian Kramer were credited with assists on the play.

With about two minutes to play Kramer made a big move to the front of the net, but Eisele stayed with it making a pad save to keep the Brahmas in it. Eisele flashed the leather stoning Bennett from between the hashmarks with no defenders in the area with seven ticks left on the clock.

Neither team was able to dent the scoreboard in the third sending the game to a five minute three on three sudden death overtime which while entertaining finished the same way that regulation had with the score tied 1-1.

Scott Persson was the first one over the boards in a purple sweater in the shootout. He picked up the puck and went a little to his left. The Kristianstads, Sweden native slowed as he approached the net forcing Vyletelka to commit then put it five hole for the early lead.

Nicholas Seitz was first up for Corpus Christi, but Eisele tracked the puck well making the save to put pressure on the home team.

Another defenseman in Blake Evennou came on for Lone Star. He also went left and nothing fancy just drove a wrister past the glove hand making it do or die for the IceRays.

Bennett, the IceRays leading scorer, was called on to force a third round. Bennett took it wide right, but Eisele made a pad save seal the win for Lone Star.

Lone Star outshot Corpus Christi 40-39 and both teams scored on the power play with the Brahmas 1-4 and the IceRays 1-6. With the win the Brahmas clinched a Robertson Cup Playoff spot.

Elsewhere Around the NAHL South Division

Topeka at Shreveport

Topeka held a two one lead late in the contest, but could not hold on. Mudbugs Captain Jay Feiwell had Shreveports’ only goal at 10:51 of the second until Georgui Feduolov scored with just 29 seconds left to force overtime. CJ Regula scored the game winner on the power play at 4:09 of overtime. Leo Chuard was in net to claim the win on 24 saves.

Odessa at Amarillo

Odessa ran out to a two goal lead through 20 minutes of play, but the Bulls came back with four unanswered. Jason Brancheau scored a pair in the second to go along with a goal from Gagik Malakyan to take a one goal lead into the third. Gabriel Seger had the only goal of the third. Justin Evenson faced 29 shots in the win.

A defensive zone turnover by the Brahmas led to the Icerays taking the early lead. Jake Stella picked up the loose puck atop the leftwing circle and fed it across to Mitchell Walinski crashing the backdoor. Time of the goal was 6:18.

The first penalty of the contest came at the 13:31 mark of the first with Frank Trazzera called for roughing after he stood up for Michal Stinil who was body slammed in the near corner by Kyle Gudme with no whistle. Trazzera challenged Gudme who declined and Lone Star killed off the ensuing man advantage.

The Brahmas’ got their first power play with just under four minutes left and continued their hot hand against Corpus Christi. Lone Star entered the weekend with a power play hitting at 25.9% against Corpus Christi on the season. At the 17:49 mark, Trazzera pulled the puck out of a crowd below the endline and used the boards to push it up to Trevor Wilhelm at the near point. Wilhelm sent a cross ice pass to his D partner and Tim Henriksson pounded a onetimer past Brian George to knot the score at 1-1.

The Brahmas took their first lead of the night after an extended period with the Icerays in the attacking zone. Henriksson got it started one handing it off the boards to Trazzera in neutral ice in front of the benches. He and Matt Guerra headed toward the other end of the ice on an odd man rush. Andrei Golikov dropped to take the shooting lane away from Trazzera who saucered a pass across to Guerra being worked over with the stick by Santeri Hartikainen. Guerra was able to control the puck despite the efforts of Hartikainen and put it fivehole on George at 11:55. Nick Siffringer made it 3-1 Lone Star after taking a pass from Noah Roofe at the blueline. Siffringer took it toward the cage then slammed on the brakes at the top of the rightwing circle allowing defenseman Tyler Love to fly by then cut toward the middle and ripped it blocker side with exactly one minute left to play. Blake Evennou was also credited with an assist on the play.

Lone Star clamped down on things in the third setting on the two goal lead. The Icerays pulled George for the extra attacker with just over three minutes left. The Brahmas had a couple of opportunities, but could not score until Evennou pulled the puck off the boards in his own end and fired it the length of the ice into the open net at 19:35.

After allowing the early goal to Walinski, Seth Eisele stopped everything that was sent his way making 31 saves on the night for his 15th win on the season.

Once again the Brahmas got help from a team behind them in the standings with the Topeka Pilots picking up a 2-1 overtime win over the Mudbugs. Matthew Francois scored for Topeka in the first and would be the only goal they would get in regulation. However, the Mudbugs would manage only a single goal as well setting up overtime where Austin McCarthy scored the winner just 57 seconds into the extra frame. McLean Dorr recorded the win on 32 saves.

Odessa at Amarillo

Logan Jenuwine logged a hat trick on the night to add to his league scoring lead. Jenuwine and Alex Peterson scored in the first as the Bulls took a two goal lead into the second. Jenuwine added two in the second then Cooper Fensterstock found the back of the net before Odessa got their first of the night. The Jackalopes scored once more in the third, but could pull no closer as Brett Abdelnour and Gabriel Seger would score for Amarillo pushing the lead to five. Jason Grande stopped 20 on the way to his 20th win of the season.

The Lone Star Brahmas will travel to the Gulf Coast to close out their season series with the Corpus Christi Icerays this weekend. Both teams are currently setting in NAHL playoff contention so a post season meeting between the teams is not out of the question.

So far this season the Brahmas are 5-3-1-1 against the Icerays going 2-1-1-0 at American Bank Center. Of the 10 games played so far only two games have been decided by more than one goal with Lone Star winning both of those.

10/12 Brahmas 3 at Icerays 1

10/12 Brahmas 2 at Icerays 3

11/16 Brahmas 2 at Icerays 3 OT

11/17 Brahmas 2 at Icerays 1

11/23 Icerays 2 at Brahmas 3

11/24 Icerays 3 at Brahmas 2

12/21 Icerays 2 at Brahmas 1

12/22 Icerays 3 at Brahmas 2 SO

01/18 Icerays 1 at Brahmas 5

01/19 Icerays 2 at Brahmas 3

The Brahmas are coming off a home split against the NAHL South Division leading Amarillo Bulls. On Friday night the teams skated to a scoreless first before Zach Heintz (15G-24A) broke through with the only goal of the second. Amarillo tied it up shorthanded early in the third, but Jake Suede (6G-14A) responded just 26 seconds later and Joey Baez (11G-5A) added another at 6:39. The Bulls would score off the draw with five seconds left. Seth Eisele (14W-7L-1OTL-0SOL) picked up the win making 35 saves. Things did not go the Brahmas way on Saturday. Amarillo scored twice in the first before Baez got Lone Star on the board in the second. Amarillo scored the next three on the power play with two third period goals coming just 23 seconds apart on a five minute major man advantage. Eisele took the loss in game two stopping 15 of the 20 shots he faced.

Corpus Christi was on the road in Topeka where they came away with three of a possible four points in a couple of barn burners with a combined total of 27 goals scored in the two games. The Icerays picked up a 7-5 win on Friday night with Santeri Hartikainen (22G-29A) and Kyle Moore (17G-22A) scoring in the fist for a 2-1 lead. Corpus Christi outscored Topeka 3-2 in the second with Mitchell Walinski (15G-11A), Nicholas Seitz (15G-25A) and Jake Stella (20G-14A) recording goals. The Pilots were able to tie it up, but Seitz and Moore would come through for Corpus Christi to ice it away. Brian George (7W-4L-1OTL-0SOL) was in net for the win stopping 23 along the way. There were nine goals scored in the first period on Saturday night with the Icerays getting four of them. Stella, Hartikainen with two goals and Austin Koss (7G-4A) did the scoring. Stella would add another in the second along with Blake Bennett (20G-34A) while Topeka managed a single goal to send it to the third tied 6-6. Moore found the back of the net in the third, but a late goal from Topeka would force overtime where the Pilots would net the game winner. Samuel Vyletelka (1W-14L-0OTL-0SOL) got the start, but was gone after giving up four goals on 10 shots faced. George came on in relief and took the overtime loss despite making 26 saves.

Last 5 games

W

L

OTL

SOL

Pts

Brahmas

3

1

1

0

7

Icerays

2

3

0

0

4

Special Teams

The Brahmas are currently 10th in the league on the power play at 20.2%. They have converted 37 of 1843 opportunities. On the road Lone Star is in the 12th spot with 17 goals on 86 chances or 19.8%. Over the last five games they are two for 17 and 11.8%. They will be skating against an Icerays penalty kill that sets at 14th overall. Corpus Christi has given up 35 goals on 176 opponent power plays or 80.1%. At American Bank Center they have allowed 15 goals on 96 kills or 84.4% which has them at 6th in the league. They are at 84.6% in the last five games allowing two goals on 13 opponent power plays.

Lone Star is setting 6th in the NAHL on the penalty kill at 83.9% after killing off 167 of 199 time shorthanded. On the road they fall to 81.9% and 13th in the league. The Brahmas have given up 15 goal on 83 kills. Over the past five games they have played pretty much in line with their season numbers at 83.3% killing 15 of 18 times shorthanded. Lone Star will be tested by an Icerays’ power play that is currently 6th in the league. Corpus Christi has scored 49 times on 219 opportunities or 22.4%. At home they are not nearly as proficient at 18.9% on 20 goals in 106 chances. In their last five games however, they have five goals in 19 man advantages at 26.3%.

In their ten previous head-to-head meetings the Brahmas are seven for 27 on the power play or 25.9% and have held the Icerays to six goals on a whopping 43 power plays or 14.0%.

Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)

Inside the Game

Matt Guerra leads all scorers in the season series by a wide margin with 12 points to date on 2G-10A. Blake Evennou (11G-21A) is next in line with eight points followed by Frank Trazzera (7G-17A) with seven points. Corpus Christi has four skaters with six points each against Lone Star in Jake Stella, Santeri Hartikainen, Kyle Moore and Blake Bennett.

With 54 points on the season, Blake Bennett if tied for 11th overall in scoring in the league and Santeri Hartikainen is 18th with 51 points.

Santeri Hartikainen’s 22 goals is tied for 15th on the season while Blake Bennett and Jake Stella are tied for 20th with 20 goals each.

Matt Guerra is tied for 12th in assists with 35 while Blake Bennett is one behind with 36 good for 14th.

Santeri Hartikainen is tied for 5th in power play goals scored with 10 while Nicholas Seitz and Blake Evennou are tied for 8th with nine apiece.

Kyle Moore is tied for 9th in the league with 124 penalty minutes.

Anthony Firriolo (5G-29A) is tied for 8th in defenseman scoring Blake Evennou is tied for 10th with 32 points.

Blake Evennou’s 11 goals ranks 5th among blueliners.

Seth Eisele comes in with the 10th best goals against average in the league at 2.32 GAA. He will be the only goaltender in the series that has played the required 1,020 minutes to qualify among league leaders. Brian George has a 2.89 GAA, Matt Sankner has a 3.51 GAA and Samuel Vyletelka has a 3.95 GAA

Seth Eisele is tied for 7th with a 0.927 SV%. Brian George has a0.912 SV%, Samuel Vyletelka has a 0.898 SV% and Matt Sankner has a 0.843 SV%.

Seth Eisele is tied for 3rd in the league in shootout wins with 3. He has not allowed a goal in five shootout attempts this season.

The Icerays are the most penalized team in the league averaging 24.04 minutes per game. The Brahmas come in at 9th with an 18.02 minute average. However, Corpus Christi has only two more minor penalties than the Brahmas. The Icerays have 34 major penalties on the year which is nine more than the next highest total in the league.

Despite the Icerays leading the league in penalty minutes, their opponents have been whistled for 72 more penalty minutes this season than they have.

Corpus Christi is 12-12-1-0 at home while Lone Star is 11-12-2-1 on the road.

After a big dustup to end the contest on Friday night, the Lone Star Brahmas and Amarillo Bulls met to close out their weekend series. At the final buzzer in game one Alex Peterson had Sam Brennan in a headlock and drove him into the end boards. A scrum erupted and once Brennan made it back to his skates Nick Anderson grabbed Brennan’s facemask and was jerking his head back and forth before the linesman could pull them apart. The question for game two would the fireworks carry over to Saturday night?

Amarillo went on an early power play and Brenden Datema fired a bomb from the blueline that Seth Eisele got a pad on. Brett Abdelnour tried to poke home the rebound, but Eisele made another pad save before stoning Peterson with a diving save.

With 3:06 left in the frame, Logan Jenuwine fired a puck off Noah Roofe’s shin pads, but the puck bounced right back to the NAHL’s leading scorer and he fired it through traffic and past Eisele. Gabriel Seger made it 2-0 putting back his own rebound from just off the far post at 19:41.

At 9:51 of the second the Brahmas cut the lead in half. Eric Huss got it started carrying the puck behind the net from the far side then leaving it for Matt Guerra coming the other way. Guerra picked up the puck and immediately sent it out front to Joey Baez for a quick onetimer into the twine past Justin Evenson. The goal was Baez’s third on the weekend.

Off a scramble in front the Brahmas had multiple pokes at the puck ending up with Frank Trazzera and Peterson coming together. Trazzera grabbed Peterson who turtled as fast as he could with Evenson jumping on top of Trazzera as a third man in. As a result Trazzera drew a double minor for roughing and Evenson a two minute roughing minor.

On the ensuing power play Anderson kept the puck at the near point and fed it to Trey Bagwell in the high slot. Bagwell moved it to Datema at the far faceoff dot for a quick wrister between the right arm and the body of Eisele at 15:34.

With 1:04 to go the teams lined up for a draw in front of the Brahmas’ bench. As they came to the circle Gabe Potyk and Jenuwine were jawing at one another. When the puck went down so did Potyk’s mitts. He fired a couple of rights at Jenuwine ducked a covered as he went straight to the ice with Potyk on top of him. Anderson came in piling onto Potyk as Peterson immediately went for Guerra. Peterson took a couple rights for his efforts before landing one of his own after Guerra lost his footing. As a result of the yard sale, Potyk was hit with the instigator minor, a fighting major and game misconduct while Guerra and Peterson received fighting majors and 10 minute misconducts while Anderson picked up a roughing minor.

On the five minute power play the Bulls would extend the lead with Louis Helsen hitting Jake Willets at the blueline for a onetimer off of Eisele’s right pad and Jason Brancheau lifted the rebound over Eisele at the 2:20 mark. It took Amarillo only 23 seconds to cash in again With Datema scoring his second from the left wing circle from Bagwell and Seger marking the Bulls’ third straight power play goal.

With about two minutes left, Suede checked a player into the boards in front of the Amarillo bench and Brendan West who was setting atop the boards ready to come onto the ice threw a punch at the Brahmas’ forward with no call coming from the officials.

Amarillo controlled play all evening and with the two goals on the five minute major put the game away. The Bulls outshot Lone Star 20-9 in the contest and went 3-6 with the man advantage while the Brahmas were 0-5.

Elsewhere Around the NAHL South Division

Corpus Christi at Topeka

It was a barn burner for the second night in a row in Topeka, but on this night it would be the Pilots who would prevail. Topeka found themselves down two early before Quinn Green broke the ice. Hugh Quinn followed with two in just over two minutes. Corpus Christi scored to pull back even, but Michael Muschitiello and Max Finner came right back with goals for Topeka. The Icerays would score again before the end of the period for the ninth goal of the frame. The Icerays scored twice in the second then Christian Thomas lit the lamp with just over 1:30 left. The teams traded goals in the third with Muschitiello picking up the Pilots’ goal. Connor Zilisch picked up the game winner 3:16 into overtime. Emil Gransoe logged the win on 15 saves after relieving McLean Dorr who allowed six on 24 shots.

Shreveport at Odessa

With the Brahmas losing to Amarillo they needed some help from Odessa and for the second night in a row they received it. After Shreveport scored to open the game, Jack Conroy scored on the power play to send the game to the second tied 1-1. Conroy added another early in the third with Vaclav Zidek and Connor Fedorek adding empty netters late. Alex Camarre picked up the win on 37 saves.

Current NAHL South Division Standings

Team

GP

W

L

OTL

SOL

PTS

y – Amarillo Bulls

51

38

7

3

3

82

Lone Star Brahmas

52

26

19

3

4

59

Shreveport Mudbugs

52

24

20

3

5

56

Corpus Christi IceRays

51

25

24

2

0

52

Topeka Pilots

51

19

25

2

5

45

Odessa Jackalopes

51

20

29

1

1

42

]]>http://jrhockeydigest.com/2019/03/brahmas-rolled-by-bulls/feed/0Brahmas Stand Tough Down Bulls 3-2http://jrhockeydigest.com/2019/03/brahmas-stand-tough-down-bulls-3-2/
http://jrhockeydigest.com/2019/03/brahmas-stand-tough-down-bulls-3-2/#respondSat, 09 Mar 2019 04:17:48 +0000http://jrhockeydigest.com/?p=5599The Lone Star Brahmas took to the ice against the division leading Amarillo Bulls on Friday night looking to add some breathing room over the Mudbugs in the division standings.

The opening 20 minutes of play saw several ebbs and flows to the action on the ice. Neither team could get much going in the way of offense and at the 5:17 mark the Bulls went on the first power play of the night. Lone Star’s penalty kill unit that has been tough all season limited the NAHL’s number one ranked power play to a single shot on goal with the man advantage. However, from that point on the visitors built a 7-1 shots on goal lead.

Lone Star started to see things swing back their way and with roughly six minutes left to play, they looked like they would take the lead. Zach Heintz grabbed a rebound just off the near post, but Jason Grande stretched out to rob the Brahmas forward and keep it a scoreless game. The Brahmas cut the shots on goal deficit to 10-8 by the end of the period and took 37 seconds of carry over power play into the locker room.

At the three minute mark of the second Amarillo went on the power play once again. In the closing moments of the power play Brendan Datema wound up and fired a slapshot from the far point, but Clayton Lackey who has been blocking shots all season gave up the body once again. The Scottsdale, AZ native had to be helped back to the bench as play went the other way and the penalty killers went for a line change.

With about six minutes gone the Brahmas had the puck deep and a scramble for the puck in front led to Grande making desperation save to rob Frank Trazzera from just outside the crease. Moments later Lone Star would generate more pressure and this time Heintz would bang home a rebound to pick up the goal he was denied in the first. Assists on the play went to Jake Suede and Andrew DeCarlo at 6:39 of the second.

Shots on goal were 22-13 in favor of Amarillo at the end of 40 minutes of play.

Lone Star entered the third period on the power play, but with just two seconds left the Bulls Brett Abdelnour pounced on a loose puck from a Jake Willets blocked shot and fired it past a screened Seth Eisele at 1:13.

It took Lone Star only 26 seconds to come up with an answer to the Abdelnour goal when Noah Roofe jarred the puck loose sending Eric Huss streaking down the ice. Huss carried the puck behind the net and attempted a wrap around that went off of Grande and stayed in the paint for Suede to punch home. A tripping call on Amarillo put the Brahmas on the power play at 4:57 of the third. A bang bang play made it 3-1 Lone Star when Michal Stinil bumped it off the near halfwall to Suede in the right wing circle. Suede found Joey Baez between the hash marks for a onetimer at 6:39.

Brendan Datema scored a goal off an offensive zone faceoff with 4.5 seconds left after a blown icing call on the Brahmas.

Shots on goal were 30-19 Amarillo, but the Brahmas had the lone power play goal going 1-4 while holding the Bulls to 0-4.

Elsewhere Around the NAHL South

Corpus Christi at Topeka

Corpus Christi picked up a win in a wild one at the Kansas Expo Center. Santeri Hartikainen started the scoring with Kyle Moore adding a goal as the Icerays carried a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Topeka pulled even in the second scoring twice to a single goal by Mitchell Walinski before Nicholas Seitz and Jake Stella put the Icerays back up two. Once again the Pilots got back even, but Seitz and Kyle Moore scored to put it away. Brian George made 23 saves in the win.

Shreveport at Odessa

Odessa helped Lone Star out with a big win over the visiting Shreveport Mudbugs. Jack Conroy scored twice in the opening frame to set the stage for the night. Joseph Winkelmann added to the lead in the second before Shreveport finally got on the board. Winkelmann and Brendan Coughlin scored on either side of a Mudbugs goal in the third. Alex Camarre logged the win on 47 saves.

The Lone Star Brahmas will wrap up a six game home stand this weekend against the NAHL South Division leading Amarillo Bulls. Lone Star is 3-0-1-0 on the home stand and will need to come up with two strong outings to maintain their hold on second place in the division which they took with their sweep of the Odessa Jackalopes last weekend.

In eight previous meeting with the Bulls the Brahmas have a 3-4-0-1 record with two of their three wins coming in overtime.

09/15 Brahmas 4 at Bulls 2

10/06 Brahmas 0 at Bulls 6

10/26 Bulls 1 at Brahmas 2 OT

10/27 Bulls 4 at Brahmas 1

12/07 Brahmas 0 at Bulls 1 SO

12/08 Brahmas 2 at Bulls 3

02/08 Brahmas 1 at Bulls 5

02/09 Brahmas 3 at Bulls 2 OT

The Brahmas picked up four big points last weekend against the visiting Jackalopes. Despite Odessa’s current position on the bottom of the division standings they made Lone Star work for the wins. Friday saw Lone Star jump out to a two goal lead in the first on goals from Sam Brennan (1G-3A) and Jake Suede (5G-12A), but Odessa had cut it to one by the end of the period. Michal Stinil (13G-5A) lit the lamp in the second in his first game back from an extended upper body injury, but once again Odessa had a response to leave it a one goal lead going into the third. The final 20 minutes followed the pattern of the second frame with Kimball Johnson (5G-9A) scoring early only to have the Jackalopes answer under five minutes later. Matt Sankner (1W-1L-0OTL-0SOL) picked up the win facing 24 shots in 59:31 on the ice. Seth Eisele (13W-6L-1OTL-0SOL) relieved Sankner for the final 29 seconds of play and stopped the only goal he faced. Saturday night was a bit easier for the Brahmas on the score board, but the physical play was amped up all night. Suede got things started with just over six minutes left in the first for his second in as many nights. Odessa would pick up their lone goal on the evening prior to the end of the period sending the game into the first intermission tied 1-1. Stinil put up two goals in the second and Zach Heintz (14G-24A) added one against his previous team in the third for the 4-1 final. Josh Martin (2G-7A) was involved in a short skirmish in the second after he delivered a big open ice hit setting the stage for a wild third. Just 15 seconds into the third, Gabe Potyk (1G-4A) picked up a fighting major followed by a Nick Siffringer (2G-7A) fighting major on the ensuing faceoff. Things settled down from there with Eisele weathering a late barrage of pucks as Odessa pulled the netminder for the extra attacker with 2:26 left. Eisele stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced on the night to pick up the win.

Amarillo traveled to Topeka last weekend coming away with a sweep of the Pilots. In game one they fell behind two in the fist before Nick Trella (7G-7A) cut the deficit in half. The score remained 2-1 entering the third where the Bulls took their first lead on goals from Brenden Datema (18G-32A) and Alex Peterson (23G-29A). Topeka tied it up just 42 seconds later. Brett Abdelnour (15G-28A) put Amarillo back on top followed by a big insurance goal from Peterson as the Pilots would score again, but could not get the equalizer. Jason Grande (20W-5L-2OTL-0SOL) got the start allowing two goals on 10 shots faced through 13:48. Justin Evenson (13W-1L-1OTL-2SOL) came on in relief facing 21 shots the rest of the way to record the win. As was the case for the Brahmas in their series, Saturday night came much easier for the Bulls. Gabriel Seger (12G-40A) got it going in the first followed by three straight from Logan Jenuwine (47G-38A) to take a 4-0 lead into the third. In the final frame Topeka scored either side of a Ryan Lautenbach (8G-14A) tally for the 5-2 final. Evenson stopped 29 of the 31 he faced for the win.

Last 5 Games

W

L

OTL

SOL

Pts

Brahmas

4

0

1

0

9

Bulls

4

1

0

0

8

Special Teams

The Brahmas come in with the 9th overall power play in the league at 20.7% with 36 goals on 174 opportunities. Their home unit is also 9th at 21.6% with 19 goals in 88 opportunities. Lone Star is only three of 17 in their last five games or 17.7%. Things this weekend will not be a walk in the park as they will face a penalty kill tied for 4th in the league. Amarillo and Lone Star are at 84.8% on the penalty kill with the Bulls allowing 25 goals on 164 kills. The Bulls have been especially tough on the road where they have the top rated unit in the league at 88.4% after allowing just eight goals on 69 kills. Amarillo has given up a single goal in just nine kills in their last five games played.

Amarillo boasts the top rated power play in the NAHL at 29.2% on 62 goals in 212 opportunities. On the road they are even better at 33.3% scoring 31 times on 93 man advantages which is again tops in the league. Over their last five they have cooled off a bit going three for 21 or 14.3%. Lone Star will counter with a tough penalty kill that is tied for 4th in the NAHL at 84.8%. The Brahmas have killed off 162 of their 191 times shorthanded. At home the Brahmas are the class of the league allowing only 14 goals on 108 kills or 87.0%. Over their last five games they have been nearly untouchable allowing a single goal on 22 kills for an outstanding 95.5%.

With outstanding penalty killing from both squads neither team has done much on the power play in head-to-head action this season. The Brahmas are five for 38 on the power play at 13.2% while Amarillo is four for 28 and 14.3%.

Goaltending Comparison Last 5 Games

W

L

OTL

SOL

SO

GA

GAA

SV

SV%

Brahmas

4

0

1

0

0

12

2.35

127

0.914

Bulls

4

1

0

0

0

12

2.41

152

0.927

Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)

Brahmas

G

A

Pts

Matt Guerra

1

8

9

Zach Heintz

3

4

7

Frank Trazzera

0

6

6

Blake Evennou

3

2

5

Andrew DeCarlo

2

2

4

Bulls

G

A

Pts

Logan Jenuwine

4

6

10

Alex Peterson

5

3

8

Gabriel Seger

1

6

7

Brenden Datema

1

5

6

Brett Abdelnour

2

3

5

Inside the Game

Amarillo has the top ranked offense in the league and the 2nd ranked defense. The Bulls are averaging 4.27 goals scored per game while allowing just 2.27 per game. The Brahmas are tied for 20th in goals scored at 2.30 per game and tied for fifth in defense allowing 2.50 per game.

Logan Jenuwine is the run away league leader in scoring with 85 points and is one of four Bulls ranked in the top 20. The other are Alex Peterson 52 points, Brenden Datema 50 points and Jason Brancheau (17G-30A) with 47 points.

Logan Jenuwine’s 47 goals in 48 games played also leads the league. Alex Peterson is tied for 11th with 23.

Gabriel Seger is tied for 3rd in assists with 40 followed by Logan Jenuwine tied for 5th, Matt Guerra (11G-34A) in 12th, Nick Anderson (3G-32A) and Brenden Datema tied for 15th and Jason Brancheau tied for 19th.

Brenden Datema is 4th in the NAHL in power play goals with 13 while Blake Evennou and Logan Jenuwine are tied for 7th with nine apiece. Alex Peterson and Brett Abdelnour have seven apiece good for a 15th place tie.

Matt Guerra, Nick Anderson and Jason Brancheau are tied for 8th in power play assists with 16. Logan Jenuwine is tied for 11th with 14.

Top notch goal tending will be on display in the series as the three goalies who have qualified among league leaders are all in the top 10 in Goals Against Average. Jason Grande is 3rd overall with a 2.01 GAA, Seth Eisele is 7th with a 2.17 GAA and Justin Evenson is 10th with a 2.39 GAA. Matt Sankner has a 4.02 GAA.

Seth Eisele leads the group in Save Percentage with a 0.931 SV% which is tied for 3rd in the NAHL. Jason Grande is tied for 7th with a 0.926 SV% and Justin Evenson is 14th with a 0.921 SV%. Matt Sankner comes in with a 0,843 SV%.

Jason Grande is 4th in the league in wins with 20 out of 27 decisions. Justin Evenson has 13 win out of 17 decisions and Seth Eisele has 13 wins out of 20 decisions.

Lone Star is 14-6-1 3 on NYTEX Sports Centre ice this season while Amarillo is 17-2-2-3 on the road. One of the Bulls four home losses came at the hands of the Brahmas.

Jake Suede put Lone Star on the board late in the first with a big individual effort. Odessa had the puck deep in their own zone as the Brahmas changed behind the play. Kellen Tharaldson was pressured in the far corner by Clayton Lackey and was forced to give the puck up to Davis Browning behind the cage. Suede who had just come off the bench circled behind the net with speed and lifted Browning’s stick as he tried to clear the puck. The Brahmas’ forward jumped on the loose puck in the bottom of the near circle and rifled it over the left shoulder of Kade Phipps at 13:56.

The Jackalopes came right back with a broken play leading to Michael Sacco finding Tharaldson streaking into the zone for a quick shot through traffic and past Seth Eisele blocker side as he was crossed up on the shot. Joseph Winkelmann picked up the secondary assist on the goal at 15:15

After an early second period icing call on the visitors the teams lined up for a draw in the far circle. Matt Guerra pushed the puck forward then corralled it along the endwall. He skated it out the near side and hit Michal Stinil in front with a pass. Stinil’s shot was kicked aside by Phipps to Frank Trazzera who put it right back on net. The puck went off a body in front and with Phipps on the seat of his pants Stinil grabbed it and pushed it just inside the near post at the 1:01 mark.

At 10:31 of the frame Matt Hutton was carrying the puck up the far wall and just as he reached the Lone Star Blueline he was sent flat of his back on a huge open ice hit by Josh Martin. Hutton took exception to a clean hit and went after Martin only to catch a big right hand and go back to the ice with Martin on top of him.

The Lone Star lead went to 3-1 off another right wing draw. Guerra pulled it back and saw the puck bounce to the near halfwall where Trazzera secured it. The Brahmas’ Captain pulled it off the wall with a backhander to Stinil atop the near circle for a blast through traffic into the twine at 14:40.

Fireworks erupted just seconds into the third with the puck sent into the far corner and ringed around Carter Wade and Gabe Potyk were exchanging words going into the near corner. Once the puck passed the gloves came off and they tied up. Wade got the right loose and landed one over Potyk’s left shoulder. They tied up some more before Potyk got Wade bent over and started firing rights into the back of his head before Wade went to the ice.

Off the ensuing faceoff Hutton gave Nick Siffringer a two handed cross check. Siffringer discarded the gloves and grabbed Hutton landing two rights. Hutton came back with a couple of his own before Siffringer landed another then both players went to the ice trying to get a hand free.

Things settled down physically and play went back and forth for several minutes. Odessa pulled Phipps for the extra attacker trying to get back into the contest. At the 17:40 mark Martin sent a pass off the far corner in the defensive zone to Zach Heintz. He skated it into neutral ice then sent it into the empty net.

Lone Star also won the shots on goal battle 31-24 and both teams were 0-1 on the power play.

Elsewhere Around the NAHL South Division

Amarillo at Topeka

The Bulls completed their sweep of the Pilots Saturday jumping out to a 3-0 through one period. Gabriel Seger got it started then Logan Jenuwine scored tow in the span of 1:17. Jenuwine scored his third of the night with only tally of the second. Topeka finally got on the board with two in the third, but Ryan Lautenbach split the Pilots goals with one of his own. Justin Evenson picked up the win on 26 saves.

With 13:47 left in the first Frank Trazzera picked the pocket of Michael Sacco and pushed the puck into the far corner before finding Matt Guerra at the bottom of the rightwing circle. Guerra spotted Sam Brennan sneaking down on the backdoor and hit him with a beautiful pass that the defenseman put five hole on Alex Camarre. Just 2:44 later after an offensive zone faceoff, Zach Heintz controlled the puck along the endboards then hit Andrew DeCarlo just off the far post. DeCarlo flipped a backhand pass to Jake Suede streaking into the crease for the two goal lead.

At the 9:39 mark another faceoff in the Jackalopes zone led to Odessa’s first goal. The puck was turned over to Vaclav Zidek at the far point and he went streaking toward the other end of the ice. Zidek went forehand – backhand and lifted it over the right leg of Matt Sankner. With about four minutes to go another turnover sent Jake Vaughan on an odd man rush. This time Sankner was up to the task closing off the far post and making a big pad save.

In his first game back Stinil notched his fifth power play goal of the season at the 6:00 minute mark of the second. Guerra won the faceoff to Camarre’s left and Heintz punched it to Stinil whose initial shot went off the side of the net. The Decin, Czech Republic native grabbed his own rebound below the goal line and sent it off the back of Jackalope’s netminder and in. Just past the midway mark of the period Guerra toe dragged around Joseph Winkelmann leaving the Odessa forward swiping at the air. Unfortunately Guerra’s shot rang off the crossbar jumping all the way back to the blueline.

Odessa scored late in the frame with Sacco slapping in a rebound past the glove hand of Sankner after the Brahmas’ netminder had made a big shoulder save. Winkelmann and former Brahma Patrick Dawson picked up assists on the score.

At 6:45 of the third Trazzera fed the puck to Heintz in the far corner. Heintz skated it out into the highslot before giving it up to Kimball Johnson at the near halfwall. Johnson sent a wrister through traffic and into the twine past a screened Camarre who did not see the puck until it was behind him.

Another odd man rush by the Jackalopes pulled them within one goal once again. Carl Skarstrom was the beneficiary picking the puck up in neutral ice and driving to the near post then lifting it over the right pad. Sacco and Connor Fedorek logged assists on the play.

With just 30 ticks left on the clock and an extra attacker for Odessa, Winkelmann found the puck at the bottom of the far circle with an open net in front of him, but Josh Martin dove in to take the shot off the body and preserve the slim one goal lead and allow the Brahmas to escape with the one goal victory.

Lone Star held a one shot lead in shots on goal at 26-25. The Brahmas had the only power play goal of the night going 1-2 while Odessa was 0-4. With the win the Brahmas pull within one point of second place in the NAHL South with a game in hand over Shreveport.

Elsewhere Around the NAHL South Division

Shreveport at Corpus Christi

The Icerays held a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes of play with Nicholas Seitz, Nikita Krivokrasov and Santeri Hartikainen doing the scoring. Jake Stella added to the lead early in the second then Corpus Christi held on from there allowing the Mudbugs to pull within one, but keeping them from knotting it up. Brian George recorded the win facing 31 shots on goal.

Amarillo at Topeka

Topeka seemed to have the division leading Bulls on the ropes early going up 2-0 before Nick Trela scored unassisted to send Amarillo into the first intermission down 2-1. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the second, but the Bulls’ Brenden Datema and Alex Peterson scored in the third to give Amarillo their first lead. Forty two seconds later the Pilots knotted it up, but the tie was short lived with Brett Abdelnour scoring just 1:05 later. Peterson scored an empty netter at 19:15. However, Topeka was not rolling over pulling within one at 19:32 but could not get any closer. Jason Grande got the start but was gone after Topeka scored twice on 10 shots. Justin Evenson came on in relief stopping 17 of the 19 he faced.

After a seven year hiatus, the state of New Mexico will be home to an North American Hockey League franchise. The league announced today that the New Mexico Ice Wolves will begin play in the ever competitive NAHL South Division in the 2019/20 season.

The Ice Wolves will play out of the Outpost Ice Arenas a four sheet facility located in North East Albuquerque. The facility will undergo in excess of $2 Million in renovations between now and the start of their first season.

Desert Ice Investment, LLC, owned and operated by Stan E. Hubbard recently purchased Outpost Ice Arenas and was granted the new franchise by the NAHL Board of Governors. Mr Hubbard is also Chief Executive Officer at ReelzChannel, LLC. and is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hubbard Media Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Hubbard Broadcasting Inc.

The NAHL’s first foray into the Land of Enchantment came in 2004 after the Lone Star Calvary moved to Santa Fe following one season at the NYTEX Sports Centre which was known as Blue Line Ice Complex at the time. With the move the team changed their moniker to the Santa Fe Roadrunners and played three seasons in New Mexico. Their best finish came in the 2006/07 season when they finished second in the South Division, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Texas Tornado.

During the offseason the team was on the move once again packing up for the trek to Topeka, KS where they competed as the Topeka RoadRunners until this season when the team name was changed to the Pilots by new owner Lamar Hunt Jr.

The most notable players to come out of the three seasons in Santa Fe are likely forward Joel Rechlicz who played 26 NHL games in parts of three seasons with the NY Islanders and Washington Capitals and defenseman Aaron Gens who finished his playing career with the Allen Americans scoring 92 points on 19G-73A in 155 games played.

Three years after the RoadRunners had moved to Kansas, the NAHL was back in New Mexico playing in the Albuquerque suburb of Rio Rancho as the New Mexico Mustangs. The Mustangs played only two seasons in New Mexico before moving on to Richfield, MN as the Minnesota Magicians.

The Mustangs finished last in the NAHL South both seasons that they participated compiling a 37-74-2-5 record. While their tenure was short and success on the ice was fleeting the Mustangs did produce a couple of prospects that had some success following their NAHL careers.

Matias Cleland played 125 games in the AHL scoring 6G-36A from the blueline and defenseman Kirill Vorobyev has logged 176 games played in the KHL with 5G-16A.

With the addition of the Ice Wolves, the NAHL South Division footprint will grow to seven teams in four states stretching from Albuquerque, NM to Shreveport, LA a distance of roughly 840 miles nearly equaling the 890 mile bus ride from Topeka, KS to Corpus Christi, TX.

]]>http://jrhockeydigest.com/2019/02/ice-wolves-to-join-nahl-south-in-2019/feed/0Brahmas Back To The Ice Against Jackalopeshttp://jrhockeydigest.com/2019/02/brahmas-back-to-the-ice-against-jackalopes/
http://jrhockeydigest.com/2019/02/brahmas-back-to-the-ice-against-jackalopes/#respondThu, 28 Feb 2019 03:29:08 +0000http://jrhockeydigest.com/?p=5556

The Lone Star Brahmas will face the Odessa Jackalopes for the final time in the regular season this weekend. After starting the season series winning three of four at home, the Brahmas have played the last six at Ector County Coliseum where they were 3-3-0-0 and suffered their worst loss of the season on January 25. Lone Star is hoping that facing Odessa on NYTEX Sports Centre ice will turn the tables in their favor.

9/28 Jackalopes 3 at Brahmas 1

9/29 Jackalopes 0 at Brahmas 3

10/19 Jackalopes 1 at Brahmas 3

10/20 Jackalopes 5 at Brahmas 7

11/30 Brahmas 3 at Jackalopes 6

12/1 Brahmas 0 at Jackalopes 4

12/28 Brahmas 4 at Jackalopes 2

12/29 Brahmas 1 at Jackalopes 0

1/25 Brahmas 0 at Jackalopes 7

1/26 Brahmas 3 at Jackalopes 1

Lone Star was off this past weekend, but the weekend before saw the Brahmas play host to the Topeka Pilots. In game one of the series defenseman Blake Evennou (11G-21A) scored a power play goal late in the opening 20 minutes of play to hand Lone Star the lead. The lead would go to 4-1 in the second with Zach Heintz (13G-21A) scoring his first in a Brahmas sweater at the Shoebox followed by goals from Noah Roofe (5G-9A) on a breakaway and Eric Huss (5G-6A) to close out the frame. Topeka tried to claw their way back into it with two goals in the third, but a late empty netter by Matt Guerra (12G-28A) would seal the deal. Seth Eisele (12W-6L-1OTL-0SOL) got the call in net and picked up the win on 16 saves. In game two it was Evennou who once again sent the game into the first intermission with the Brahmas holding a 1-0 lead. Topeka knotted it up late in the second before taking a 2-1 lead with just over 4:30 left in regulation. With Eisele pulled for the extra attacker, Andrew DeCarlo (7G-8A) dug out a rebound and put it in the back of the net to force overtime where Topeka would net the game winner. Eisele faced 30 shots on goal in the contest to take his first overtime loss of the season.

Odessa is coming off a tough road trip to division leading Amarillo. On Friday night the Jackalopes found themselves looking at a 4-1 deficit after 20 minutes of play with Everett Wardle (3G-2A) accounting for the lone Odessa goal. Amarillo added two more in the second to make it a five goal lead. Oscar Tyskhagen (1G-4A) scored his first of the season early in the third, but the Bulls scored twice more for the 8-2 final. Kade Phipps (9W-13L-0OTL-0SOL) got the start but was gone after just over 13 minutes after allowing three goals on 12 shots faced. Alex Camarre (9W-12L-1OTL-0SOL) came on in relief and gave up five goals the rest of the way on 27 shots on goal. On Saturday Odessa was down a goal going into the second, but quickly tied it up on a goal from Vaclav Zidek (9G-9A) at 2:27 of the second. The tie lasted just seven minutes with Amarillo scoring twice before Connor Fedorek (6G-19A) lit the lamp with 42 seconds left in the frame. That was a close as Odessa would get with Amarillo having the only goal of the third. Camarre faced 39 shots in the loss.

Last 5 Games

W

L

OTL

SOL

Pts

Brahmas

3

1

1

0

7

Jackalopes

1

4

0

0

2

Special Teams

Lone Star’s power play has slipped to 10th overall in the NAHL at 20.5% on 35 goals in 171 opportunities. At the Shoebox they move up to 21.2% on 18 goals in 85 opportunities good for 8th in the league. The number do not look good over the past five games where they have only two goals in 17 power plays or 11.8%. They will be up against an Odessa penalty kill that is next to last in the league at just 72.9%. Odessa has allowed 54 goals on 199 times shorthanded. The Jackalopes have been better away from the Ector County Coliseum moving up to 20th at 77.6% allowing 26 goals on 116 kills. They have shown some promise of late allowing just three goals on 21 kills or 85.7% over the last five games.

The Brahmas penalty kill has been pretty tough all season and currently is ranked 6th overall. They have allowed 29 goals on 186 kills or 84.4%. When you look at the home numbers Lone Star is tops in the league giving up just 14 goals on 103 kills or 86.4%. The PK has been especially stingy over the past five games at 90.0% allowing just two goals on 20 times shorthanded. The Jackalopes power play at 18.3% is 16th in the league. They have managed 28 goals on 153 opportunities. On the road their numbers remain fairly close still setting 16th and down to 17.2% on 16 goals in 93 chances. They have only one goal in the last five games on 13 opportunities or 7.7%.

There have been 72 power play opportunities in the 10 games the Brahmas and Jackalopes have played so far this season with both teams performing well above their season averages. The Brahmas have gone 10 for 35 or 28.6% while the Jackalopes are eight for 37 or 21.6%.

Who is Hot (Last 5 Games)

Inside the Game

This will be the first meeting between the teams since the trade that sent Vilho Saariluoma (4G-13A) Odessa and brought Zach Heintz to Lone Star.

Additional roster moves since their last meeting include the Brahmas adding goalie Matt Sankner (0W-1L-0OTL-0SOL) while the Jackalopes traded veterans and scoring leaders Jared Christy (19G-24A), James Crossman (14G-17A) and Kyle Herbster (9G-31A) for tenders and draft picks going into next season. Odessa has also added Mason Vukonich (3G-8A) who is now with his fifth team in two seasons and Carter Wade (0G-2A) who has 123 games of NAHL experience with four teams since the 2015/16 season.

Four of the five leading scorers for Odessa in the season series are now with other teams. The one remaining is Kellen Tharaldson (4G-14A) who has scored nearly half his points against Lone Star with 2G-5A.

Lone Star on the other hand has four of their top five still on the roster. Matt Guerra has nine points on 3G-6A, Blake Evennou with 3G-3A, Scott Persson (3G-16A) with 1G-5A and Michal Stinil (10G-5A) has five points on 3G-2A. Stinil should be about ready to return from an upper body injury which will help boost the Brahmas offense.

Matt Guerra is tied for 16th in the league in assists with 28 and tied for 7th in power play assists with 15.

Blake Evennou is tied for 7th in power play goals with 9.

With 32 points, Blake Evennou is tied for 7th in the league in defenseman scoring. His 11 goals is 4th best among blueliners.

Blake Evennou is the reigning Bauer Hockey NAHL South Division Star of the Week.

Connor Fedorek is tied for 19th is goals scored by a defenseman.

Seth Eisele is currently 8th in the NAHL in goals against average with a 2.24 GAA. Kade Phipps is 32st with a 3.52 GAA and Alex Camarre is 34th with a 3.65 GAA. Matt Sankner has a 5.00 GAA after his lone game against division leading Amarillo.

Seth Eisele leads the group in save percentage as well and is 6th in the league with a 0.930 SV%. Alex Camarre is tied for 28th with a 0.901 SV% and Kade Phipps is 31st with a 8.98 SV%. Matt Sankner comes in with a 0.815 SV%.

Alex Camarre has two of the three shutouts posted by the four goalies with both of those coming against the Brahmas. Seth Eisele has he other in a win over Topeka.

Seth Eisele and Alex Camarre have both won all three of the shootout games they have participated in while Kade Phipps picked up the win in his only shootout contest. In fact the three netminders have allowed only one goal on 15 attempts in a shoo